Understanding Local School System Budgets

Local boards of education must send their budgets for the next school year to the State Department of Education by August 15. Those spending plans outline how and where federal, state, and local funds will be spent.

Oftentimes, education employees and the general public have a difficult time in determining whether funds are appropriated fairly and equitably between and among the schools within a particular system. Several years ago, the Alabama Education Association worked with state lawmakers to pass a law that requires local boards to issue a public notice and hold at least two budget hearings before the final budget can be adopted and sent to the state department.

AEA Research Manager Amy Hubbard Marlowe and other staff spend many hours training members how to read and dissect school budgets to ensure that tax dollars are spent legally and fairly. Here are the most often asked questions and the answers to those questions.

Q: I’ve heard that the school system is required to hold budget hearings. Give me details.
By law, every school system is required to hold two budget hearings before adopting a final budget to be sent to the state by the August 15th deadline. They are to make a public announcement of the time, date, and place with a schedule convenient for the public to attend. Printed materials are to be made available by the school board for the public in attendance. Use of the term “hearing” certainly connotes that a discourse of questions and answers would occur between the public and the board. The two hearings should spread apart in time so the board could make corrections and adjustments based on the initial hearing.

My school board doesn’t really do these things. They throw so much material out that it is difficult to follow. They don’t want questions asked and they try to hurry up the presentation.

Q: Why are they doing this?
Many board members and superintendents don’t like “light” to shine on their materials and presentations. This often gives the impression that they have something to hide. Many don’t like questions because they don’t know the answers. For years, they have tried to adopt a budget with a structure to fit their needs and their priorities and didn’t like questions asked. The purpose of the law on the hearings was certainly to remind public and appointed officials that they are dealing with the public’s money and that all the records are to be made public for review and questions. One of the best ways to shine more light on their activities is to get employees and citizens to attend. Encourage the media to attend – you might even have a meeting or conference with members of the media before the hearings to alert them to what to look for. Remember: if very few persons show up at the hearing, board members like to state that the public has no interest and that the board is doing a good job spending the taxpayer’s dollars!

Q: When we get to the hearing, they give us a bunch of paper and computer print outs. It is difficult to follow during the hearing process.
This is why association leadership should go to the superintendent at least a week ahead of time to get all the printed materials to be presented at the hearing so you have time to study the documents.

Q: We tried that but we were told that they are just putting data together and it won’t be ready until the day of the hearing.
The superintendent and his/her staff have had the state data since the Legislature adjourned and local data for almost as long. They know their allocations and they know their personnel needs. If they truly are waiting until the last minute to put together a budget, one could allege they are inefficient or incompetent. What would they say to a teacher who would put together a lesson plan just before entering the classroom?

Q: What are they supposed to make available at the hearings?
A school budget is composed of a revenue side (expected income for the year) and an expenditure side. These delineations should be clear. Also, funds come from three different sources – federal, state, and local. These should also be clear. In addition, a summary sheet should be available for each “cost center” in the system (school sites and administrative areas or departments). These should show number of employees and the source of their funds, total salaries, fringe benefits and, in the case of schools, the allocation for instructional materials. All of these materials should be in print for attendees to have copies to study and take with them.

Q: Even if I have all these materials, I’m still not sure what I’m looking at. Where can I get help?
Your UniServ Director has lots of materials and data. Association leadership should sit down with your staff person to go through all these materials before the hearing – teacher allocations for each school, funding for instructional supplies, the state budget, how much revenue is to be expected, and other details to look for in the system’s proposed budget. AEA also provides training on school budgets.

Q: Why is a school system budget important for me to look at and question?
Almost everything revolves around a budget – salaries, what is available for your classroom, transportation of students, cleaning supplies, food for the cafeteria, how many administrators are being hired, and discretionary funds. Remember also that your school has income from fund-raisers, vending machines, picture sales, and the like. These are also public records and you should take the effort to get data from your school office on revenues and proposed expenditures. You might be very well surprised at how much income is collected at your local school and how some of these funds could be made available to faculty for supplies.

If you have other questions, please contact Amy Hubbard Marlowe, AEA Research Manager.